International security, risk and protection specialist Pilgrims Group has been awarded Risk Management Company (RMC) status from Afghanistan’s Ministry of Interior Affairs, only the third company in the country to do so. The license, part of a wide-ranging programme to bring self determination and security to the Afghan people, allows Pilgrims to work alongside the state’s Afghan Public Protection Force (APPF), transferring knowledge and expertise to the force and helping it to protect the population more effectively.

Presented on 21st February, Pilgrims won RMC accreditation from application to award status quicker than any other applicant. "Pilgrims Group showed due diligence and a strong sense of co-operation in pursuing its risk management company license with the Afghan Public Protection Force and also in making a commitment to Afghanistan," said Colonel Brad Dreyer, senior adviser to APPF head, Deputy Minister Jamal Abdul Naser Sidiqi.

Pilgrims, founded by former officers of the British Special Forces, has worked extensively in Afghanistan, Iraq and the Middle East, protecting professional personnel and development agency workers in some of the world’s most volatile political environments. The announcement of its RMC status follows Pilgrims’ recent success in winning a contract to protect the staff of International Relief and Development (IRD), a prominent NGO, in Afghanistan.

Pilgrims’ Director of Business Development, Peter Kaye, said: “Pilgrims always works together with local partners in the countries where we operate. In Afghanistan our goal is to help develop the APPF as a whole by strengthening the abilities of individual security officers and supervisors, in parallel with continuing to enable the business objectives of our many clients in Afghanistan.”